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NASA | LAMP: Peering into the Lunar Dark

This video describes NASA’s LAMP experiment (Lyman-Alpha Mapping Project), which maps ambient ultraviolet light reflecting off of the Moon. The data will give scientists more information about the moon’s composition and help determine whether the moon has frost. Spectrographs on board LAMP break up the incoming light into narrow bands of ultraviolet light, an analysis that hasn’t yet been done and one that scientists believe will yield important new insights about the Moon.

You might think there are places in the sky where it would be almost totally dark, but there’s always a glow from ambient light. Besides, most EM radiation is invisible to us, so even light that is very “bright” in one area of the EM spectrum could be completely “dark” in the visible part of the spectrum.

The cumulative effects of direct and reflected starlight create a light bath that affects even the back side of the Moon. NASA’s LAMP (Lyman-Alpha Mapping Project) sensor is designed to observe and analyze the light reflecting from the Moon - specifically in the ultraviolet energy band of the electromagnetic spectrum. Ultraviolet light has energy just higher than our eyes can see; “ultra” means “beyond.” Ultraviolet waves are between visible light and x-rays on the spectrum. In fact, the reflected light LAMP is studying includes many more bands besides ultraviolet, but the NASA team is interested in the Moon’s ultraviolet profile, partly because it hasn’t yet actively been studied in ultraviolet yet.

Each band of the EM spectrum is actually a continuum itself, and the LAMP team intends to break the ultraviolet band into its component parts – much the same way you might break white light into its component colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. By slicing the ultraviolet zone into smaller bands using a spectrograph, scientists can get a more precise picture of the Moon’s ultraviolet profile. The results will offer new information about what the Moon is made of.

Hydrogen atoms in water molecules emit – or absorb, depending on whether electrons are gaining or losing energy – light that corresponds to ultraviolet wavelengths LAMP can sense. As LAMP images the moon, it maps areas where there could be water – ice frozen under the polar caps, for example. Because the moon doesn’t tilt very much on its axis, deep craters at the poles could have been in shadow for billions of years, creating cold conditions that could trap hydrogen and possibly ice. The LCROSS impact in 2009 confirmed that ice lies in these craters. See http://lcross.arc.nasa.gov/observation.htm. Scientists believe water from passing comets or embedded hydrogen in the moon’s composition could coalesce over time into ice deposits. There’s already some evidence of hydrogen markers, which scientists in the video refer to as the “Lyman alpha glow.” LAMP will further refine our understanding of where the hydrogen might be and whether indeed there could be ice deposits. Lunar water could be used to support future human presence on the moon. Also, water can be broken down into its component molecules and used to produce rocket fuel.

Here on Earth, the ultraviolet light we receive comes primarily from the Sun. In fact, it’s ultraviolet rays that cause our skin to tan and burn when we’re outside on a sunny day. (That’s why sunscreen is formulated specifically to block UV rays.) Many animals make use of ultraviolet light: bees, spiders, some birds, and other animals can see ultraviolet light. A “black light” emits mostly ultraviolet light, with some “near” ultraviolet light that’s close to the visible band.

Can there be EM radiation in places that appear to be totally dark? Why or why not? If so, how would you know?

How can we “see” in parts of the spectrum other than the narrow band of visible light?

While Viewing

Where is the ultraviolet sensor relative to the Moon? What is its vantage point and how did it get there?

What kinds of questions do scientists think they can answer by viewing the Moon in ultraviolet wavelengths?

The video describes how LAMP can “see” in ultraviolet during both the day phase and the night phase of the Moon. What did that mean?

After Viewing

How will scientists break up the ultraviolet light into narrower bands within the ultraviolet band?

What do you think the Earth would look like through UV-sensitive equipment? What about the Sun?

Name an object you think would be interesting to view in another EM band beside visible light. Which part of the spectrum would you choose? What do you think you’d “see” as compared to viewing the same object in the visible band?

Bonus Question: Why do you think “bug zappers” have an ultraviolet light source?

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